An .htaccess file is basically an ASCII text file you can create in a text editor. However, since these are "dot files" and are considered hidden to some operating systems (such as Mac OS-X, Linux and Unix) or else as in the case of Windows, you might find you can't create a new file that has only an extension and no filename before the dot. Here is a good way to create an .htaccess file and upload it to your CGI server for use:

1. Open an ASCII (plain text) editor and put the information in that you want in your .htaccess file. For more information, see What is an .htaccess file and how do I use them? and Text Editors You Can Use To Create CGI Scripts.

2. Save the file as htaccess.txt

3. Open your FTP program and log into your CGI server. Upload the htaccess.txt file to the directory in which you want to place the .htaccess file.

4. Use your FTP program to rename the uploaded htaccess.txt file to .htaccess

NOTE: You may not be able to see the file after you rename it in your FTP program. Use an FTP that you can set to list all files or issue an ls -a command to so that you can see your .htaccess file.

Always keep your htaccess.txt file in case you should need to make changes in the future.